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Thursday, January 1, 2015

2014 Swoony Award WINNERS

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2014 Swoony Awards! The Swoony Awards were created to recognize excellence in clean fiction. We wanted a reference for all those out there looking for a swoony romance without the steam. We also wanted to recognize and show our appreciation to all these great authors who write the kinds of books we love. We couldn't be more pleased with all the participation and great book nominations we received. I know I've found a lot of great books on this list and even found some new authors to try!

In the two months the awards have been up, we received almost 1700 voters and over 500 book nominations! The readers have spoken and chosen their favorite books of 2014! So, without further ado, here are the winners...

Best Short StoryThe Nativity Bride by Miralee FerrellNow, we wanted to share with you our personal favorites:

Kathy's ChoiceLady at Arms by Tamara LeighI have a soft spot for Medieval stories, but clean ones can be hard to find. When a good friend recommended Tamara Leigh's books I thought I'd give them a try. I chose Lady at Arms because I loved the story, the characters and the swoony romance. As I read I was quickly sucked into the story and the atmosphere of the book. I couldn't put it down. When I finished I had to go on a Leigh-Binge and read all of her medieval books. I loved this book for a lot of reasons, but one of the reasons I chose it as my top pick was because it introduced me to a new author to follow!

Katie's ChoiceUnder a Georgia Moon by Cindy Roland AndersonI chose Under a Georgia Moon as my favorite of 2014 because it has all the elements that I love. I love a meeting that is full of humor. I also love it when two people meet years later, after knowing each other when they were younger, and find that their views of one another have changed. In a way, that's similar to my relationship with my husband. It basically comes down to a clean romantic comedy that totally draws me in and has me smiling, sighing, and swooning throughout the whole book. I really didn't want it to end!

Kathy Jo's ChoiceDreaming of Ivy by Shannon GuymonPicking KJ's Choice Award has been extremely hard for me because there were just SO many amazing books to choose from!! However, I had to go with the one that had the biggest impact on my life. Very few people know how extremely hard this past year has been for me. Reading was one of the things that helped me get through some of the toughest times. I was at a point where I had lost hope and was just feeling extremely low. And then I picked up a book that just spoke to me... that brightened my life... that gave me hope that things WOULD get better!! And that book is Dreaming of Ivy by Shannon Guymon.

Heidi's ChoiceAs You Are by Sarah M EdenMy favorite book of 2014 looks to be the favorite of many others, and for good reason. As You Are, by Sarah M Eden, was a beautiful escape that had me never wanting the book to come to an end. Ms. Eden has a way of weaving such heartwarming tales that I always want to pick the book up and start right over again after I have finished. I fell in love with the characters in this particular story and adored being reintroduced to characters I already loved. I thoroughly enjoyed it and fell it deserved every swoony award it received.

We are looking forward to the 2015 Swoony Awards and hope that you will be joining us again this year! Please feel free to join our groups (Goodreads and Facebook) and follow us on Twitter (@swoonyawards)! Help us spread the word about good, clean, swoony romance books!
Happy New Year and Happy Reading!